This invention is directed to a toy having a body, at least one appendage attached thereto, a driving means located within the toy, and is activatable upon pivoting the appendage with respect to the body such that the driving means retracts the appendage back to the body and in so doing, drives a member which propels the toy across a support surface. The illustrative embodiment of the invention utilizes a toy figurine having front and rear appendages which, when spread apart from one another by depressing the body of the figurine, retract back toward one another, and in so doing roll the toy figurine across a support surface in response to rotation of a set of wheels located at the end of one of the appendages which are rotated in response to movement of the appendages back toward one another.
Many characterized figurine toys are known which are directed to pre-school children. The earliest of these date to antiquity and are of carved animals and the like.
Certain figurine type toys are known which employ wheels at the bottom of their extremities such that they can roll across support surfaces. In this class of toys are many riding toys and the like which a small child can actually ride upon. Furthermore, in this class are toys which are capable of being pulled across a support surface, or which move across a support surface under the influence of a winding mechanism or the like.
The majority of all of the toys in the above classifications have appendages which are fixedly held with respect to the body. Only a few of the above noted type toys have movable appendages. In this class of toys would be those toys which most closely mimic the shape of animals and the like. Movement of the appendages with respect to the body is made in order to better mimic the actual real-life animal counterpart or the like.
One U.S. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,363 is directed to a type of toy of the above classification which further includes rotating belts or the like which rotate around the ends of the appendages of the animal figurine to move the figurine over obstacles and the like. Further, the front and rear appendages of this toy are movable in a limited respect in order to better simulate movements of a living animal. This toy is propelled by the use of a small electric motor which requires batteries or the like. Other toys of this general classification date back for some years and include wind-up toys which, for example, are shown in very old patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 61,416 and a plurality of other patents which have issued since that time. These patents, as are exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 61,416, rely on movement of two of four appendages, or one of four appendages at any one time to propel them. They do not utilize means located on the end of the appendage, as does the above noted U.S. Pat. No. 3,563,363 in moving the figurine across a surface.
A further class of characterized animal toys include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,613,080 and 3,911,613. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,911,613, an articulated animal figurine type toy is shown having appendages which have ball joints formed on the end such that the appendages can be moved with respect to the body. The body itself is articulated and is held together by rubber bands or the like. This toy, however, is incapable of moving under its own power in any way. In the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 2,613,080, a characterized animal is disclosed which is not necessarily of the toy figurine type, but more of a larger scale apparatus which can be utilized as a target at amusement parks and the like. In it, when a target is struck, a characterized animal performs a movement characteristic of its real-life counterpart.
Of the above described toys which are capable of moving over support surfaces, the use of electric motors and wind-up mechanisms utilizing keys or the like precludes successful play with the toy by a very small child. This use is precluded because of the lack of motor coordination to appropriately activate the toy.